Spin the Bottle
by Charlie41
Summary: A game of spin the bottle changes the dynamics of their friendship. How will they cope with the changes?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Maura's POV**

In the few years that she had known Jane, there had only been a couple of occasions when Maura could not figure out what was troubling the detective. This was one of them. _"I have to work out what's upset her"_ the chief medical examiner thought to herself. It had all started on Friday night at the dirty robber. Jane and Maura had gone there for a drink after work and were soon joined by Korsak, Frost and Frankie. It was just a typical Friday night. Later on in the evening, Jane's younger brother Tommy showed up with a couple of his friends who were having an evening out whilst Angela was taking care of TJ. The group expanded and several drinks later Tommy suggested they play his favourite childhood game of Spin the bottle, hoping that he would have a chance at kissing Maura who he had not-so-secretly been attracted to for a while. As it was his idea, Tommy took first go, he spun the bottle and it landed on Frost. Disappointed that it wasn't Maura, he awkwardly pecked Frost on the lips, much to the amusement of the rest of the group. Next was Frost's turn, this time the bottle landed on Maura. The pair had to lean over Jane to have their kiss and as soon as it was over she got up and stormed out of the building. Maura remebered watching her leaving, thinking it was strange that she had left without saying anything. She sent Jane a quick text to make sure she got home safely and went on enjoying the evening.

**Jane's POV**

Jane slammed the door of her apartment shut behind her. Her heart was racing and she was shaking with anger. She couldn't understand why she had got so angry at the sight of her partner and her best friend kissing. "It was just a game" she muttered to herself as she reached in her pocket to check her phone. She had a text from Maura asking her if she had got home safely but decided to ignore it, not feeling in the mood to talk to her. _"Why am I so pissed at her?! She hasn't actually done anything wrong"_ the detective thought to herself. Thinking back over the evenings events all she could focus on was the kiss between Frost and Maura, she had watched it happen, staring longingly at Maura's beautiful full lips with jealousy as her partner went in for the kiss. _"But why am I jealous?! She's my best friend who is gorgeous and single and should be allowed to kiss whoever she wants! Why does it bother me so much?!"_ Jane couldn't understand what had made her react the way she did but all of a sudden she hated the idea of anyone getting close to Maura, being able to stare into her beautiful eyes and kiss those lucious lips. "Stop thinking about your best friend in that way Rizzoli!" the detective shouted to herself to try to snap out of it. But the harder she tried the more she thought about her desire for Maura. She went over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer, she chugged it down in one. _"Am I really attracted to my best friend?!"_

**Maura's POV**

She hadn't heared from Jane all weekend and then this morning, when they had briefly bumped into each other in the cafe at work, Jane had been moody and awkward like she was trying to get away. _"I don't understand"_ Maura thought, _" Why is she being like this over a game of spin the bottle."_ She couldn't concentrate on the autopsy of the day because she couldn't stop worrying about Jane. _"Was she really ignoring me because I kissed Barry?!"_ she wondered. _"Her behaviour was showing signs of jealousy, and if that was the case then she must be mad at me because she wanted to be the one to kiss Barry, because she fancies him!"_ The realisation shocked Maura, Jane had never mentioned any romantic interest in Frost, although Maura could understand why she would be attracted to her partner. She couldn't stand the thought of Jane being angry with her. _"There's only one way I can fix things, I'll set them up on a date and then Jane will have to forgive me!"_ Maura thought to herself, planning how to get the two detectives together.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Jane's POV**

Jane had spent all weekend trying to work out her feelings for her best friend. She had purposely ignored all of Maura's messages and phone calls. _"I can't keep doing this to her"_ the detective admitted _" it's not fair on her, she's done nothing wrong and will be beginning to get worried."_ But she had needed the space to think over these new feelings she had discovered. The more she thought about it, the more obvious her attraction to Maura was. It's as if she'd put on a new pair of glasses and seen what had been there all along._ "Now what do I do about these feelings"_ she wondered. It was one thing accepting her romantic feelings for her best friend but it would be another trying to go back to the way things were before.

It was Monday afternoon now and although she was determined to make things right with Maura and act like nothing had changed, the few minutes she had spent with her in the cafe that morning had felt extremely awkward and she used any excuse she could find to leave. Just as she was about to leave work to go home for the evening she received a text from Maura _"Meet at Toscano at 7pm. It's important. M x"_  
Jane knew she had to go, she owed Maura that much. The fact that Maura had said it was important made Jane's stomach turn, _"What if she's worked out I have feelings for her?! If its taken me this long to work out how I feel then Maura's google-sized brain must already know!"_ She was so nervous with the thought of having to face the reality of her feelings for Maura. She rushed home to get ready, taking extra care over what she wore. Even though she knew nothing would happen between the two of them, she now felt more pressure to look good around her best friend who always looked stunning and so well dressed. _"Time to face the music"_ she thought as she left the house in a hurry.

**Maura's POV**

The plan was in motion. Maura had decided to set Jane and Barry up on a date tonight. She had booked a table at one of her favourite Italian restaurants and asked them specifically for a romantic table for two and said she would settle the bill so that the night would run smoothly. She wanted everything to be perfect for the two detectives. She knew how to get Jane there, she had sent her a text asking her to meet her there at 7, mentioning that it was important so that Jane wouldn't try to back out. She hated sneaking around behind her best friends back but knew she would thank her for it in the end.

Once she had heard from Jane cofirming that she would be there, she had to think of a way to get Barry to the restaurant. This would be slightly trickier as she didn't want to ask him directly incase he thought it was Maura herself who wanted to go on a date. She had thought of leaving him an anonymous love note on his desk, asking him to meet his secret admirer at the restaurant tonight but then thought he might think it was a prank by his colleagues. Instead, she decided to ask him to meet herself and the rest of the team at the restaurant as a celebratory meal for their recent success in some high profile cases. She knew he wouldn't be able to resist. All of this sneaking around and lying was enough to bring the medical examiner out in hives. But she knew it would be worth it.

**Jane's POV**  
Jane got to the restaurant just before 7pm, and after being showed to their table, waited eagerly for Maura to arrive. But much to her surprise her patner Frost turned up a few minutes later.

"Frost?! What are you doing here?" She asked, feeling very confused.

"Nice to see you too Jane." The other detective joked. "Where's everyone else? Maura said to be here for 7."

"What do you mean everyone else? She told be to meet her here at 7 and said it was important." Replied the brunette, disappointed that it was not Maura who was sitting across from her.

Suddenly it all clicked with Frost "It looks like the ME has set us up."

"Oh my gosh, she must have thought I was jealous of her kissing you on Friday! And set this whole thing up to make up for it!" Jane was touched by the effort that her best friend had gone too. _"This is one of the things I love about her so much, her thoughtfulness"_ Jane thought to herself. _"Wow. Love. Really?! I love her?! Of course I do Rizzoli, you're supposed to be a detective but you couldn't see the most obvious thing!"_

"Oh wow Jane, I never knew you felt this way about me!" Frost joked, teasing Jane about the set up.

"Shut up Frost, Maura's just got things confused!" Jane replied, deciding to make the most of the evening.

The two detectives sat there, enjoying the lovely food and wine that Maura had so kindly organised for them. As the evening drew to a close, Frost offered to give Jane a ride home. "Oh Frost, you're such a gentleman" Jane teased as she got into his car "Actually could you drop me off at Maura's, I think I need to talk to her to clear all this confusion up."

Now Jane was standing outside the ME's front door, scared to go in and face her best friend and the feelings she had for her. _"This is the moment that could change everything"_ she thought as she knocked on the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Dual POV**

Maura opened the door and invited Jane in, feeling confused as to why Jane was at her door so late at night. The honey-blond was wearing her comfortable evening clothes and looked even more beautiful and adorable than usual. _"Wow, she doesn't make this any easier."_ Jane thought to herself as she entered the Medical Examiner's house.

"Jane, what are you doing here so late? I thought you'd still be out with Barry." Maura was clearly disappointed that her plan to set the two detectives up hadn't worked.

"Yeah about that Maur, what were you thinking setting me and Frost up?! You know I'm not interested in him like that." Replied Jane.

"But I thought you were angry with me for kissing him on friday and that's why you ignored me all weekend. So I wanted to make it up to you. I could tell you were jealous and wanted to be the one kissing him"

"Maura it wasn't Frost that I wanted to kiss," Jane blurted out "It was..." She was unable to finish her sentence, she just stood there, frozen, staring at her best friend.

_"Fuck. Why did I just say that?!"_ Jane thought to herself, panicking.

"Oh." That was all the medical examiner could manage to say.

Embarrassed, Jane get her things and went to leave.

"Jane, wait." The ME grabbed Jane's arm to stop her leaving, turning her around to face each other again.

The two of them could feel the electircity running between them, their heartbeats racing. Maura desperately searched for the words, but for once she was unable to think of anything to say. She stood staring at Jane, not knowing what to say or do. She was so shocked by Jane's confession but yet it all made sense. She wanted to say something, anything that would make things better but no words fell from her lips.

Jane couldn't take it any longer, she couldn't be around Maura anymore. She grabbed her jacket and ran out of Maura's house, tears streaming down her face.

**Maura's POV**

Maura watched her best friend leave, feeling conflicted about what to do. Part of her wanted to chase after her and demand more of an explaination to her outburst, but the other part knew that Jane was hurting and would need space to recover her pride. She was also very confused, she had never allowed herself to think of Jane in a romantic way. They were best friends. Best friends who spent all their time together. Best friends who shared the same bed. Best friends who held hands. Jane was one of the very few people who Maura let hug her when she was upset. And Jane was the same with Maura. They were special to each other.

_"Maybe we're not just friends"_ Thought Maura, it was like something had clicked in her brain. _"She's always meant more to me than any man i've dated, always the first person I want to see in the morning and the last when I go to sleep. It's always Jane I call in an emergency and when I have something exciting to tell her. It's always been Jane."_

As the Medical Examiner moved over to sit on her couch, she felt the warm sensation of tears falling down her face. She was not very good at dealing with human emotions, she could understand the deceased better than almost anyone she knew but when it came to living people and their feelings she had always struggled. She didn't want to have to deal with these feelings, her desires for Jane. It had always been there in the back of her mind, ever since they had met she had found the detective beautiful and fascinating. But it had scared her then and terrified her now that she knew Jane felt something too. She couldn't allow herself to go there, to cross that line of friendship and professionalism, she had too much to lose. So she did what she had always done, shut away her feelings and went to bed, hoping that in the morning things would seem clearer and that her and Jane would be able to move on from this.

**Jane's POV**

After Jane ran out of Maura's house she ran all the way home. When she got to her apartment, she couldn't breathe. Not because of running, her fitness levels were excellent, but from the amount of tears she had shed and emotional pain she was in. She kept reliving her confession over and over, each time it felt like she was being stabbed in the heart. She wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep forever. She was still in shock by the evenings events. It had all happened so fast yet those moments that Maura had grabbed her arm and looked into her eyes felt like an eternity. Jane knew it couldn't have just been her that felt that intense emotion running between them. It had taken all of her strength to resist the urge to launch herself at Maura and kiss those beautiful lips.

_"She must have felt something too, the way she looked at me when she stopped me from leaving, there was something there for sure."_ She was so tempted to call the ME and talk but thought better of it. _"If there's any chance she feels the same way, she will definitely need space."_ The detective thought, knowing her best friend wasn't very good at dealing with her feelings. She decided to head to bed for the night, but as she got into bed she suddenly felt so lonely. All she wanted was to see Maura, she always slept better with her by her side. But at the same time, she was dreading work tomorrow. She knew they'd have to talk about things eventually but they would also have to work together and make sure her feelings didn't get in the way. _"Tomorrow is going to be tough"_ she thought as she drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Maura's POV**

Maura awoke early the next morning despite the emotionally exhausting night before. She carried out her usual routine but couldn't shake the worried feeling in her stomach. She wanted to make things right with Jane and act as if nothing had changed but Jane's confession had left her with loads of questions and had awaken feelings inside of her that she had tried so hard to repress.

Her morning at work was pretty quiet, working on the usual autopsies. There was one case that she was working on that she knew Jane and the team would need the results for, she took a deep breath and took the elevator up to the homicide department. "I really hope this isn't too awkward." she thought to herself as she reached the right floor.

"Hey Jane" The ME said a little too enthusiastically, her voice higher than usual, showing the effort she was making.

"Oh, hey Maur" Jane replied awkwardly, the tension between them was obvious even though they had both tried to ignore it.

"I have those results you were waiting on" Maura handed Jane her results, trying to make things as normal as possible.

The two women discussed the results and progress they were making on the case, as they talked they could feel the awkwardness of the night before disappait and they were able to work together as well as they had always done.

_"That wasn't as bad as I thought"_ Maura thought as she returned to her lab. _"Maybe our friendship will be just fine."_

**Jane's POV**

The rest of the week had gone pretty smoothly, things between Jane and Maura seemed to back to normal which they were both very happy about. It was now Friday evening and the team went out for their usual drinks. Jane felt a rush of awkwardness as her and Maura sat in a booth at the Dirty Robber, knowing that this was the spot that had caused things to changed between them. She wanted so badly to talk about her feelings with Maura, but held back because she was scared to ruin things and didn't want to make her best friend uncomfortable.  
Maura looked stunning as usual, wearing a dress that showed off her cleavage. Jane's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to her heaving chest. _"Stop perving on your best friend before she notices!"_ Jane warned herself, not wanting to create any unnecessary weirdness between them.

Their evening was spent drinking and talking, they were back to their previous closeness and were completely comfortable with each other. The ME stood up to go to the bathroom, swaying slightly. She had had a little more to drink than her usual glass or two of wine. Jane smiled to herself, it was nice to see her best friend let herself go a bit and relax more. A few drinks later and the women decide to call it a night, heading back to Maura's house as they usually did. Once they were in the house, Jane helped herself to a beer from the fridge and poured Maura a glass of wine. They settled down on the couch, sitting close to one another. It had always been that way and neither of them thought anything of it but now that she had confessed her feelings, Jane was concerned that Maura would think she was trying to make a move. But, to the pleasant surprise of the detective, her best friend snuggled in next to her, putting Jane's mind to rest.

**Maura's POV**

"Jane" the ME said, turning to look at her best friend. As she caught Jane's gaze she could feel a strange sensation take over her body. There it was again, that electricity between them that she had felt before. This time, however, she wasn't so afraid to take a risk.

"Jane, did you mean what you said about wanting to kiss me?" Maura asked, catching the detective completely off guard.

Jane choked on her beer, coughing slightly. "Maur, come on I thought we'd moved on from this" She said shakily, scared that talking about it would cause tension.

"But what if I don't want to move on from this" Maura said as she placed her hand on her best friend's cheek, leaning in to place her soft lips upon Jane's.

And then they were kissing, Maura felt Jane return her kiss, their lips melting in to one anothers. It felt so powerful yet so effortless, their mouths already so attuned to each other like it was meant to be.

It was over as soon as it begun. "Maura I can't..." Jane said as she pulled away, breaking the spell they were under. She started to get up to leave but Maura wasn't going to let her do that again. She grabbed Jane and pulled her in for another kiss. Jane tried to struggle away, breaking the kiss once again. " Don't Maur, just don't." She shouted at her best friend, tears in her eyes as she ran out of the house.

Maura stood their completely shocked. It felt like deja vu, being abandoned by her best friend all over again. _"She left me. She left me again."_ She thought as she crumbled to the floor in floods of tears.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Jane's POV**

After she left Maura's, Jane ran a few meters down the road and then suddenly stopped. _"What am I doing?!"_ She thought to herself _"Maura kissed me and I just left her. She wants me back and I ran! Jesus Rizzoli, what is wrong with you?!"_

She turned on her heel and headed back in the direction of Maura's, hoping that her best friend would still want to talk to her. She knocked loudly on Maura's door, after a few mintues there was still no answer. "Come on Maur, please open up!"

"Go away Jane." She heard the ME shout from the other side of the door. She sounded angry and as if she'd been crying. It killed Jane to know she had been the one to cause that pain.

"Please Maura, I'm so sorry. Please let me explain! I was scared. Just let me in so we can talk about it." She was banging loudly on the door now, not afraid of who heard their business, she just needed Maura to let her in.

Suddenly the door swung open and Maura stood there, her face was red and blotchy from crying. "Jane, stop being so loud, you'll wake the neighbours" She said angrily in her best friends face.

"Well then let me in so we can talk about this." Replied Jane, trying to make her way into the house.

"No Jane, you don't get to do this to me. You know how hard it is for me to read emotional situations, I put myself out there for you and you left me. So fucking leave!" She screamed at the detective, her face red with anger and her eyes filling with tears again.

Jane whinced at those words, she knew that Maura only ever swore when she was under intense emotional stress. She knew that she had blown it and took it as her queue to leave her best friend alone.

**Maura's POV**

Maura spent the weekend full of overwhelming emotions that she didn't know how to handle. It was times like this that she would usually turn to her best friend for advice but this time that was the one thing she couldn't do because it was Jane who had caused her so much pain. In the 48 hours that had passed, she had received numerous calls from the detective, all of which she had avoided. She had even been sent a bouquet of her favourite flowers with an apology attached, she could tell that Jane was desperate to talk to her. Now it was Sunday evening and the medical examiner was struggling with a tought decision she had to make. Part of her wanted to go over to Jane's and talk things over, knowing that they would have to work together the next day and also feeling that she deserved an explaination to Jane's behaviour. The other part of her was still hurting so much and felt angry and let down by Jane's reaction to her kiss. She had thought this was what Jane wanted but clearly had got her signals mixed or something.

Now that the kiss had happened, she couldn't stop thinking about it. She wanted to do it again but also remembered how much it hurt to be rejected. _"I have to know."_ She thought to herself. _"I have to know what she wants."_ And with that thought she knew what she had to do, she knew she had to see Jane.

Her drive over to Jane's apartment felt like it was taking twice as long as usual. Maura knew it wasn't possible but it felt as if there was hundreds of tiny butterflies in her stomach. _"Is this what love feels like?"_ She wondered, feeling rather unnerved by the sensation taking over her nervous body.

When she finally arrived at Jane's, she was so full of nerves mixed with anger mixed with anticipation that she almost chickened out and went home. She quickly knocked on the door before she could change her mind and waited to see if Jane was home.

"Maura! Hi!" Jane said, inviting her best friend inside, a look of shock and happiness on her face as she saw Maura at her front door.

"Hello Detective." replied Maura, feeling the need to keep her guard up.

"Would you like anything to drink Maur? I have some of your fancy wine in the fridge if you fancy that?" Offered Jane, trying to make things feel normal even though she could tell her best friend wasn't in the mood.

"No thank you Jane, I think its best if we just sit down and have a talk" They walked over to Jane's couch and sat facing each other.

"Ok Maura, look I'm really sorry about what happened on Friday night. I was scared. You took me by surprise and I freaked out because everything I wanted was happening and then I was worried that you-"

"Jane stop" Maura interrupted her mid speech. "Do you have any idea how much I've been hurting over the weekend?! I took a huge risk by making a move on you on Friday and just as I thought it was worth it you left me! I felt so broken, I was torn whether I should come here and talk to you or make you pay for hurting me."

"I know Maur, I fucked up! Please give me another chance, I'll do anything. You said you felt it was worth it when you kissed me. Does that mean you want the same things as I do?"

"Well..I...I don't know what I want. But I know it felt good to kiss you." Maura admitted aloud to her best friend. Hearing those things said out loud, even after everything that had happened, felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her chest.

"So you think I'm a good kisser huh?" The detective joked.

"Well I wouldn't say that..." Maura said, giving her best friend a playful nudge. She felt warm tears falling down her face from the intensity of the conversation and almost melted at the touch of her best friend wiping those tears away.

They sat there on Jane's couch, looking at each other, neither of them wanting to say anything that would ruin the sweetness of the moment. Maura felt so happy to be around Jane again, but also so afraid of being hurt. She didn't know how to progress with their friendship now that so much had changed.

"So what does this mean for us and our friendship" Jane asked, almost as if she could read Maura's mind.

"I don't know. I don't want to put our friendship at risk and I think that this weekend proves how much is at stake. But I also know that if we remain just friends then our feelings for each other could destroy what we have as well. As angry as I am with you for leaving me, all I have wanted to do this weekend is feel your lips against mine."

Jane didn't need to hear another word. She leaned in and with a smile she kissed her best friend. Maura immediately kissed back, feeling a flood of emotion run over her body. The feeling of Jane's lips on hers sent an amazing rush of arousal all over her body. She opened her mouth to allow Jane's tongue access to her mouth and moaned at the sensation of their kiss turning more heated.

"Does this mean I'm forgiven" Jane asked, breaking the kiss.

"Not quite. But you can start making it up to me tonight." Maura replied seductively, taking Jane's hand and leading her to the bedroom.


End file.
